NOAA is an immense government agency, collecting and distributing scientific research and informing decisions that affect our daily lives. But the Western Regional Center of NOAA is in our own backyard, just north of Waren G. Magnuson Park at 7600 Sand Point Way. Friday’s open house is an opportunity to learn more and meet some folks doing this important work.

Courtesy NOAA Western Regional Center

As part of the Seattle Maritime 101 Festival NOAA’s Western Regional Center campus will open its gates to the public on Friday May 16 from noon to 7PM! Come explore the work NOAA in Seattle does to support the maritime industry through weather forecasting, healthy ecosystems, safe waterways, protecting our coasts, and observing our planet. Come visit us for tours, hands-on activities, movies, and the chance to meet NOAA scientists.

Arrive early as tours will fill up on a first come, first served basis. Tours will include and are scheduled as follows:

WEATHER – Take a tour of NOAA’s National Weather Service Seattle office forecast center and learn how meteorologists work 24/7 to forecast the Seattle area weather from the waters of Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountains and everything in between. Tour is 45 minutes and start times are: 12:30, 1:45, 3:00, 4:15, 5:30.

OCEAN ANIMALS –This tour includes rare access to the NOAA marine mammal bone scientific collection that includes Orca Whale skulls and a Narwhal tusk! Then continue on to the Fisheries net loft where you will see how NOAA manages fisheries that produce sustainable seafood. Tour is 1 hour and start times are: 12:30, 1:00, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00, 3:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:30.

OCEAN ENGINEERING – Step into NOAA’s engineering workspace where engineers are hard at work building and testing new technology to collect data from our oceans. See the evolution of tsunami sensing moorings and learn how we can now detect a tsunami smaller than a centimeter in the open ocean. Tour is 30 minutes and start times are: 12:30, 1:00, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00, 3:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:30.

RESTORATION WALK (this may also be self guided at any time as well) – Take a walk with NOAA restoration experts and learn what we are doing to restore our campus shoreline on Lake Washington and habitats throughout Puget Sound. You will also learn about the history of our campus and various art installations along the way including the Sound Garden. Tour is 1.5 hours and start times are: 12:30, 2:15, 4:15.

Adding to the fun, the PIE food truck will be serving up sweet and savory pies (baked fresh daily) from 12:00-4:00 p.m. and Curb Jumper Street Eatswill be serving speciality sliders, sandwiches, and fries from 12:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Earlier in April, the City of Seattle finally released the official 2015 map of the Seattle City Council Districts. The reason for the map and the new way of electing our city councilmembers being (via seattle.gov):

In 2013, Seattle voters passed a measure amending our city’s charter to establish City Council districts. In 2015, voters will elect seven out of the nine City Council members by district. The remaining two positions will be elected “at-large” (city-wide) in positions 8 and 9.

Our Ravenna neighborhood is located in Council District 4, along with Bryant, Roosevelt, View Ridge, Sand Point, Windermere, Laurelhurst, Hawthorne Hills, the University District, Eastlake, half of Wedgwood, most of Wallingford, and a touch of Fremont — which is why it is so great to finally have a city-approved map with hard boundaries.

Northern portion of the Council Districts map. Click to open the interactive version.

Within the interactive map above, Seattle residents can search for their address to find out which Council District they are located in, or just zoom in and around to see what neighborhoods are located in which districts.

We hear a lot from interest groups but not enough from families because they are busy working to get by. So the newsletter highlights not only important neighborhood issues, but fun stuff that will be engaging and relevant each month.

There are currently nine Patty’s Eggnest locations in Washington State, all of which are independently owned and operated. Patty’s specializes in breakfast. So much so that their Eggs Benedict have their OWN MENU. NINE different kinds, people.

We serve delicious, hearty meals made to order and made from scratch with fresh, choice ingredients. In a comfortable, family-friendly atmosphere, we’ll be happy to fill your table with home-cooked breakfast favorites. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, Swedish pancakes, scrumptious scrambles, and hearty chicken-fried steak are just some of the dishes that we feature on our menu at all locations. We also feature tasty lunches, like hot delicious sandwiches, big burgers with seasoned fries, and fresh salads. For several of our locations, we are open for dinner hours as well, serving fresh roasted turkey dinners and soup made-from-scratch.

That same Eater piece claims that “a Joey’s and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in.” That’s a lot of restaurants. But with 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant space available in that new building, anything is possible.

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Over in the Laurelhurst direction, Bill the Butcher is getting a new, unlikely neighbor:

Another one for the TO BE CONTINUED pile. We’ll contact Cloud City and Seattle Parks and Recreation on this one and report back.

UPDATE (5:35 PM): We’ve heard back from one of the Sand Point Tennis Center managers, Scott Marshall, who said, “Cloud City will be the cafe operator inside of our 6-court building. We are extremely excited about this partnership.”

Lacia Bailey, with her pet goat, speaks with Paul Schulte, brother of Dennis Schulte, during a Thursday prayer vigil at Sand Point Community United Methodist Church in Seattle for Karina Ulriksen-Schulte and her son, Elias Schulte. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times)

UPDATE (Friday, March 29): We attended Thursday’s prayer vigil at Sand Point Community Methodist Church, and share a bit of it with you here.

Pastor Law says that Judy and Dennis Schulte’s church back home is holding a vigil at this time as well.

The Schulte family, including the grandparents, Judy and Dennis, had started attending the church recently. The grandparents were able to celebrate the birth of their new grandchild with the congregation before they passed.

Sunset in the west from outside the church.

Staff from Fire Station 40, located in Wedgwood, attended the service. Lieutenant Milton was one of those who responded to the scene on Monday, March 25:

Lt. Milton, representing Fire Station 40, who is here: “I want to thank this church for having us, because I know I need it.”

A “prayer for healing for Karina and Baby Elias” was read responsively, and included the lines “give them courage,” “give them your strength,” “may they feel your comfort,” and “may they be reminded of the great love in this community for them.”

Pastor Law closes in prayer, as a child laughs. Many families here tonight.

Notice about the prayer vigil posted at the memorial on NE 75th St. Photo courtesy Lacia Lynn Bailey.

Thursday is also Maundy Thursday, the fifth day of the Christian Holy Week when the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles is commemorated.

UPDATE (Thursday, March 28): Looks like a memorial vigil/walk is forming up to take place on Monday, April 1, starting at the Wedgwood Top Pot at 70th and 35th, and traveling to and from the memorial site at 75th and 33rd. 4-5 PM. Details here.

Shortly before 1:00 PM this afternoon, sections of seven Northeast Seattle neighborhoods lost power. At peak, approximately 3,800 customers were affected.

Screen capture of the outage at its peak taken from Seattle City Light’s System Status webpage.

Parts of Roosevelt, Ravenna, Bryant, Wedgwood, View Ridge, and Sand Point all took a hit along NE 65th St, while nearly all of Windermere went down. The estimated time of restoration was listed at 3 PM, but many customers are seeing their lights coming back on ahead of that time.